This Morning presenter Sian Welby fought tears on today’s show as she opened up about her dad’s dementia during a phone-in. The ITV host presented This Morning alongside Dermot O’Leary today and opened up about her personal experience with dementia after sharing her father’s diagnosis last year.
Speaking on the show today, Sian teared up as she delivered heartfelt advice to viewers at home. “Mums and dads, if they’re the ones with dementia, they still want to feel like a dad,” she said.
“I still ask my dad to help me do things even if I could do it myself. It’s just so he feels like he has his purpose and he is my dad.” As her voice began to waver, Sian was seen wiping a tear away from her eye.
Last year, Sian opened up about her dad Ian’s dementia diagnosis, revealing that it’s “devastating” for her family. “You’re scared to lose a person that you know, it is quite frightening! Like you say, would I want to take a test knowing I could be susceptible to it?” she said.
She later told OK! Magazine: “If someone calls, he puts the phone down and can’t remember who it was. If mum pops out to the shops, he can’t remember when she left – or when she’s coming back.”
Back in June, Sian became a mum for the first time as she welcomed daughter Ruby into the world. The TV presenter shares little Ruby with her partner, radio producer Jake Beckett.
Chatting about motherhood at the end of last year, Sian opened up about balancing the demands of her newborn with work on Capital’s breakfast show and This Morning.
She said: “Like any parent at the minute at this time of the year, she’s been ill, she’s had a cold, I’ve been sucking snot – it’s not been very glamorous, and I’ve not had much sleep as normal, and you’ve still got the 4am alarm for work!
“However, it’s been just amazing, and I’ve just enjoyed every moment, really – even those tough days, it’s just given me a whole new perspective.”
This week, This Morning’s former editor Martin Frizell announced that he would be returning to broadcasting with a new weekly podcast, This Much is True Crime.
The TV producer is set to team up with renowned criminologist Professor David Wilson to look into the most significant crimes in history after leaving This Morning to care for his wife Fiona Phillips, who is battling Alzheimer’s.
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